Scrip Poll Result: Brexit Would Be Bad For UK Life Science Industry
This article was originally published in Scrip
It's official. The vast majority of you think the UK life sciences industry would hit stormy seas should the country decide to leave the relatively safe haven of the European Union.
Of the 128 people who had voted in Scrip's poll as of March 9, a total of 110 (85.94%) said a Brexit would be bad for the industry, while just six (4.69%) thought it would be a good thing. 12 (9.38%) of those who voted expected the effects to be "neutral".
Admittedly this is a small and not necessarily representative sample of our readers worldwide, and it gives no indication as to the reasons why respondents judge that a Brexit would be good, bad or indifferent for UK life sciences.
But the strong showing against a Brexit is broadly in line with the position taken by industry bodies in Europe, which have expressed concern over the likely regulatory, research, commercial and other implications of a UK departure.
The UK BioIndustry Association said recently that a UK departure would "negatively impact the life sciences sector and lead to disruption, expense and significant regulatory burdens for a new authorization system." For the European R&D-based industry association EFPIA, the UK's continued membership of the EU is "in the best interests of the pharmaceutical industry in the UK and across Europe."
As might be expected, the largest single block of votes in our poll – 53, or 41.1% of the total – originated from the UK. Perhaps surprisingly – or perhaps not, given its strong presence in the EU pharma sector – the US was next in line, with Scrip subscribers there offering 22 votes (17.19%), followed by Germany with 20 (15.63%).
10 people in Switzerland expressed a preference, but in France, the EU's second-largest pharmaceutical market after Germany, just five did so. The remainder of the votes were spread across Hungary, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Chile, India and Singapore.
Of the 53 people who voted in the UK, the overwhelming majority (45 or 81.82%) felt a Brexit would be bad for the life science industry, while just two (3.64%) thought it would be a positive move. Six people (10.01%) pressed the "neutral" button.
Interestingly, a greater proportion of US and German respondents to the poll saw Brexit as a bad thing (86.36% and 85% respectively). None of the 10 voters based in Switzerland saw any positives for industry in a Brexit (nine "bad", one "neutral"). Could this be linked to Switzerland's loss of access to the EU's Horizon 2020 and Erasmus research programs as a result of its failure to sign a free movement agreement with the newest EU member state, Croatia, in 2014? Possibly, but we will never know.
Our poll does not of course reflect general UK attitudes towards the EU, and as a subscriber-based survey it will bear little or no resemblance to the actual result of the referendum come June 23. But it does at least give a flavour of how our readers throughout the world view the consequences of a possible UK departure from the EU after 43 years of membership.